WordPress gone wonky or rowdy readers | For Bloggers

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I love WordPress, really I do. It’s mostly free and fairly easy. But every once in a while I don’t understand what it’s doing.

Lately I’ve been struggling with the Reader. It drops some of my favorite authors and includes some bloggers that I no longer follow. What’s with that? Yes, I do know how to edit the reader but it has a mind of its own. Or is it only my Reader that has a mind of its own. Did they give me a rowdy reader? (Don’t you just love alliterations?)

Note to non-bloggers who decided to read this anyway. The reader is a link that allows WordPress bloggers easy access to new posts from the bloggers they follow. It’s a nice feature at least up until today!

Today was the worst ever. “They” made more changes to the Reader. It used to show two sentences or so of a post followed by a link to continue reading and the number of words that were remaining. You could click on that and get to the “real” post on the blogger’s page. It was one click to get to the post. ONE CLICK! 

I loved the statement on how long the post is. It’s very helpful if you are in a time crunch and you can knock out the short ones fast.

Today there is no link at the end of the few sentences. If you click on the title you go to a comment section and then you have to click on a link called original. Very annoying! TWO CLICKS. 

With all this clicking I swear I spent more time working my way through posts than ever before. Supposing it took the president two clicks to get to his key advisors (that’s enough time to launch a nuclear weapon)? Supposing it took two clicks to purchase something online (that’s enough time to reconsider)?

I love progress but perhaps more testing with real bloggers would be in order. Or perhaps I am the only one annoyed with it. Naw! Can’t be just me!

If I am missing something, let me know. Is there an undo button for things I don’t like?

Don’t mess with my mocha latte or my Reader!

Update: As of yesterday, the remaining word count with a link to the full post was again functioning and all is well in the naked city!

30 thoughts on “WordPress gone wonky or rowdy readers | For Bloggers”

  2. Kate, I think WP heed your post. Notice the change on the reader? Much easier to navigate. Guess what? The Stat cannot ad how many likes, hits, or views. Oh well…. it’s just a number. 😛

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  3. So far I don’t have trouble getting to a post with one click. However — to comment the first time I have to copy what I write (especially if it’s long). WP often (but not always) sends me a note that says “Sorry, we cannot post this comment” or something like that. Makes me feel like a criminal but I go back to open the blog post, scroll down to comments and “paste” the thing I copied. Then it always accepts. Now I ask you, am I not cooperative? And are they trying to stop comments? Now I really must copy this comment for pAsting later. 😦

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    • Wow! That never happened to me. I did have one blogger tell me that it deletes her comments. They are not even racy! You would think WP would encourage comments and make it easier.

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  4. Add my name to the list of unhappy campers, Kate. At first I thought it was just me, which is kind of funny, but I couldn’t imagine WP had actually made this particular change. I do agree that losing the word count is a problem. I kind of figure out in advance how much time I have to sit and read, and now I don’t feel very efficient. Oh well…we’ve all shared mutual angst and now I can move forward. I feel heard. Thank you. LOL!

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    • I read the post. I understand what they are trying to do but it still doesn’t explain why they made it harder to get to the original post. I can’t comment or “like” unless I have read it and my reader clearly says the format only allows the first part of the post. I should try it on my mobile phone and see if it looks different. BTW it’s too hard to type a whole post into my smart phone even with the auto word feature! Arghhhh!

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  6. Change does not always mean something better. About a week ago, the Reader dropped me. (I follow me so I can see how it looks when it’s delivered by e-mail.) So I had to re-follow me. I recall that one person who follows my blog said she’d stop getting notices about my new posts. She also had to re-follow me. Argh! Give ’em heck, Kate.

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  8. I keep writing to you and it keeps deleting. Don’t know what that’s about. Third time so I will briefly say, I too am having all kinds of issues with my site. I hope they resolve. Afraid it’s going to delete again.

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  12. The changes to the Reader do not have a favorable vote from me. I have a feeling they will change again soon. Seems no one likes the new reader. Hopefully, when they improve the improvement it will be more like the old way of things.

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  18. I should be out the door but hadt o run to my Reader to check it out. Yep… I’m here on the “comment” window. (Which is running slow.) You are right… Not a great set-up.

    I also noticed you have this tagged under humor… you may want to change that tag to “annoying”. (Just a thought.)

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  19. I don’t like the changes they made to the reader either. I miss seeing the word count. I miss “one click” shopping.

    I don’t know of any override buttons.

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  20. I hear you … I have a love-hate relationship with some of the online platforms (FB would be at the top of my less-than-favorable list). In any case, it is very aggravating when they “improve” things for us, and by doing so, they complicate the process. Grrghghghghghghgh

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  21. My gripe with wp is that every letter in title gets capitalized by default and often I do not want that. Your title has lower case first letters. I was told by wp help that this will be automatic unless I buy an upgrade of some sort.

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